Archives for October 23, 2017

Take a magical romp with the world’s most popular clay boy in The Gumby Movie. For the first time, you’ll enjoy this heartwarming adventure, fully re-mastered from its original film rolls. This is the complete movie, with all its scenes intact. This clay-animated masterpiece was written and directed by Gumby Creator Art Clokey and showcases Gumby, Pokey, Prickle, Goo, the Blockheads, Professor Kapp and introduces the Clayboys and singing sensation Tara. Gumby rocks out with the Clayboys for a concert benefiting local farmers. But things go awry when Gumby s arch enemies, the Blockheads, dognap his pet pooch, Lowbelly! Bad turns to worse when the Blockheads also kidnap the band…and replace them with clones! The battle between Clayboys and clones is filled with trains and planes, knights and fights, thrills and spills! True to classic Gumby adventures, The Gumby Movie takes viewers in and out of books, to Toyland, Camelot, outer space and beyond! KIDS FIRST! Film Critic Gerry O. comments, “This is the youngest of the Gumby series and is far from the best. However, even though there are some moments that could be improved on, The Gumby Movie still delivers the timeless entertaining charm that the earlier decades of the Gumby series are so famous for.” KIDS FIRST! Adult Juror, Rachael V. adds, “The movie is a well done flashback to the series and has the same goofy animation and weird storylines.” See their full reviews below.

The Gumby Movie
By Gerry O., KIDS FIRST! Film Critic, Age 15

This is the youngest of the Gumby series and is far from the best. However, even though there are some moments that could be improved on, The Gumby Movie still delivers the timeless entertaining charm that the earlier decades of the Gumby series are so famous for.

This film follows the trend of the show by concentrating on Gumby’s adventures. There are some light action scenes to keep these adventures exciting as well as a few jokes that the whole family can enjoy.

The Gumby Movie’s plot is about Gumby and his friends attempting to stage a concert. During the concert, two investors in the audience accidentally find out that Gumby’s dog (Lowbelly) cries pearls when he listens to their music. They come up with a scheme to steal the dog and make thousands of dollars, but get discovered and Gumby and his friends have to save Lowbelly in one epic and complex adventure.

For the most part, this film really has a lot of great perks. The detail in the stop-motion clay animation really looks spectacular and mostly natural. The plot has lots of fun twists as well as quite a few references (i.e. one fighting scene contains light sabers in a ship that looks like it belongs in Star Wars) to other series that allows for a good laugh. The background soundtrack by Jerry Gerber fits the tune of the quirky cartoon well and adds a little spice to the movie as a whole. There are a few technical hiccups that can be improved on to make this film perfect. One example is the visible and obvious wires holding up some of the characters. Even though this film was made in 1995, wire removal editing tools have existed since the late 80s. At times, the animation lags quite a bit and could be sped up to make more fluid motions. Nevertheless, none of these little things ruin the watching experience, as The Gumby Movie still is a great film to watch with the family.

There are some filler scenes that don’t do much to further the plot nor add any reoccurring elements to the story. Even though they sound bad, they are enjoyable and make it feel like several separate episodes, each with a unique adventure. My favorite scene takes place towards the beginning of the runtime when Pokey looks for Gumby everywhere. On his way, he passes by a slide. At the same time, two of Pokey’s friends come out of the slide and run into him. The three turn into a big clay ball and need to go to the hospital to get un-separated. The scene has quite a few made up procedures that are both funny and realistic looking, which adds to the humor. Even though this has no purpose to the story, it still provides a few good laughs and, in general, is a fun mini-story.

The Gumby Movie can be a family movie but its main purpose is being a kid’s movie. For that reason, I recommend it for ages 8 to 18. I give The Gumby Movie 4.5 out of 5 stars because it has a few technical faults here and there, but still really provides a good quality Gumby feature film.

The Gumby Movie
By Rachael V., KIDS FIRST! Adult Juror

I always love watching anything Gumby related. I remember watching Gumby when I was younger and it was always a blast. It was always quirky and weird, which is something I can really get behind. The movie is a well done flashback to the series and has the same goofy animation and weird storylines. If this is not something that you’ve grown up with, chances are you might not like this movie as much. It’s a hard style to get into if you are not watching it for nostalgia. My children were a little confused when watching this because the animation is so old school. I personally really enjoyed it and I am 26! I recommend it for ages 6 to 12 and give it 5 out of 5 stars, fully admitting that I am a sucker for nostalgia.

NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) asked the Aquarium of the Pacific to rehabilitate a rescued sea turtle found injured in the San Gabriel River. The green sea turtle was brought to the Aquarium for rehabilitation on Friday, September 29. The animal appears to be a sub-adult female, and it weighs 71 pounds. The Aquarium’s veterinary team removed three fishing hooks from the sea turtle’s skin and completed a medical exam on the animal. “Based on its exam, it appeared to be in good health with only minor injuries from the fishing hooks. The turtle was eating and swimming normally in its recovery pool and was quickly ready to be released,” said Dr. Lance Adams, Aquarium of the Pacific veterinarian. NMFS tagged the sea turtle to track its movements for research purposes, and the Aquarium released it today (10/5/17) into the San Gabriel River in Long Beach, where it was originally rescued. The Aquarium’s Citizen Science Sea Turtle Monitoring program has studied the urban population of sea turtles in the San Gabriel River for the past few years in conjunction with NMFS. For more information, please visit http://www.aquariumofpacific.org/conservation/sea_turtle_monitoring.